City ​​of Witches 571

Chapter 571 – #117_Sleeping With The Enemy (7)

#571

1.
Dorothy woke up much later than expected.
She had been sound asleep for almost six hours.

No matter how optimal the position, it wouldn’t be easy to be comfortable while being held by someone else.

“Hmm…”

Dorothy opened her eyes with a sleepy hum, not yet fully awake.
Ruelle would surely throw a tantrum if she saw this, so he was about to wake her up when she opened her eyes.
It was good timing.

“Oh…”

Despite her languid demeanor, her silver eyes, usually so impenetrable, showed a hint of confusion.
Even the ever-unfazed Dorothy couldn’t escape the grogginess of sleep.
Her eyes, usually so hard to read, were practically screaming, ‘What? What happened?’

“Ah… really.”

But the bewilderment didn’t last long.
Dorothy blinked a few times and completely wiped away the strange expression.
She chuckled, as if she found it absurd herself, and then rubbed her cheek against Siwoo’s chest while making a ‘Uuuuuum!’ sound as she stretched.

“What time is it?”
“It’s 8 AM. If you’ve slept enough, please move. I have to go serve.”
“Were you really like this all night?”

Dorothy quietly moved away as he gently pushed her.

“A promise is a promise.”
“……”

It was like when Ruelle had worried about Dorothy when she had pretended to fall on Siwoo in the sauna.
The same ripple he had seen yesterday seemed to resurface.

But he didn’t dwell on it.

The world is full of problems that cannot be measured with a ruler.
He didn’t presume to be so generous as to take on all the parts that his own capacity couldn’t measure.

If that was the case, there was no need to think about it.
Since they were leaving today, he would be saying goodbye to trying to figure out her true intentions, and to the feeling of unease or bitterness.

“Hey.”
“Yes?”

Just as he was about to get up, Dorothy asked quietly.

“Would you like to work with me?”
“…Out of the blue?”

He responded casually, as she was smiling and joking as usual.
He couldn’t say ‘No, thank you’ or ‘I refuse’ as firmly as before.
It was because of the unresolved lump in his heart.

He was about to end the conversation, as usual, and go to Ruelle when it happened.

“I have an island near the Dominican Republic. It has a white sandy beach where the jade-colored sea crashes, and the scenery is quite spectacular.”

Dorothy continued, staring intently at Siwoo.
She was someone who treated everything like a joke.
He thought this was just another extension of her bad jokes.

She must be trying to get revenge by seeing his dumbfounded face.

“It’s my own workshop that can’t be detected by satellites, and there’s no information about it in the location points.”
“……?”
“The annual salary is a clean $3 million. I’ll give you plenty of bonuses and vacation time, and of course, we’ll negotiate every year. I can also help with your magic research.”

He thought that’s what Dorothy would be like if she went back to her main job and sat at the negotiation table.
She had the demeanor of a top-notch negotiator, sharp yet relaxed.

But if the content was absurd, even if you brought in a grand negotiation master, you wouldn’t be able to convince him.

“What’s the job?”

He had been on the receiving end every time, so he decided to throw in a little banter.

“Isn’t it obvious? My pillow. Just hold me tight when I sleep, like today.”
“The salary is high compared to the job.”
“Of course~ As a perk, you can spend a hot night with me. If you’re my pillow, I can be spoiled for eight hours a day.”
“Haha.”

As he was joking around and getting ready to wake Ruelle, his arm was pulled back.
He turned around to see Dorothy, her smile gone.

“What’s your answer?”

Her gaze was so direct that it was hard to dismiss it as a joke.

It was probably the most serious he had ever seen her.
Only then did he realize that the series of conversations might not have been a joke…
But either way, his answer wouldn’t change.
He politely refused.

“Thank you for the generous offer, but I don’t think I can change jobs.”
“That’s a shame.”

Seeing Dorothy back down so easily, he felt that she was indeed an unpredictable witch.

2.
Dorothy kept her promise.

At breakfast, she mentioned that she would be ending her vacation earlier than planned.
Ruelle looked very disappointed and pouted.

“You’re leaving already. I’m so upset.”
“I’m so sad too~”
“Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

Dorothy glanced at Siwoo, just enough for Ruelle not to notice.

“The market is in a really good flow right now. I’m getting anxious because I’ve been too relaxed.”

Dorothy’s slightly disheveled appearance from the morning was gone.
If she had looked like a top-notch negotiator a little while ago, her gentle demeanor towards Ruelle was almost at the level of a salesperson dealing with a department store VIP.

“Why don’t I just buy all your things? I can’t pay you right now, so I’ll issue Nuckelavee Kingdom treasury bonds.”
“Oh my~ How gracious~ But I need cash.”
“Even with a 10% interest rate guaranteed on a 10-year maturity, it won’t work?”

Dorothy seemed slightly flustered when a detailed proposal came out after she tried to make an excuse to get out of it.

“Today isn’t the only day. Now that I know where you are, I can come visit anytime.”
“Still… there are so many things I still want to do with you. It’s too short for a reunion after 10 years. It’s a pity.”

Ruelle sighed deeply, pouting like a child who had dropped a lollipop on the ground that they hadn’t finished eating.
It was around the time he was feeling a sense of relief, not quite relief, at seeing Dorothy keep her promise unexpectedly.

“Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“Could I borrow him for a moment?”

It was a request that neither Siwoo, who was listening to their conversation, nor Ruelle, who was asked the question, had expected at all.

Siwoo was probably making the same dumbfounded expression as Ruelle right now.
To think she would actually say those words that he had half-dismissed as a joke.

“What did you just say?”
“I asked if I could borrow Shin Siwoo.”

Her bewilderment was brief, and the expression disappeared from Ruelle’s face.
In that short moment, he didn’t miss Ruelle looking at Siwoo in surprise.

It was a look that said, ‘Was there an agreement between you two that I didn’t know about?’ so he shook his head vigorously.
Siwoo had clearly expressed his refusal.

“That’s difficult. You know that this is not a reasonable proposal. But I will listen to the reason why you want to take him.”
“He looks smart~ I’m planning to make him do various things.”

Ruelle’s expression was complicated.
She seemed to be wondering whether to get angry or to put it nicely.

“Shin Siwoo may look neat, but he’s a beastly man who dreams of having three wives and four concubines. Who knows what kind of scandalous things will happen if you two travel alone.”

It seemed she had decided to try to persuade her first.
Ruelle calmly and in a low tone explained the dangers of Shin Siwoo.

“Thank you for your concern~ But I’m more daring than you think, Your Majesty.”

Dorothy replied with a sly smile, as if nothing was wrong.

Siwoo had already expressed his refusal.
The possibility of Ruelle agreeing was also extremely slim, and even if she did agree, Siwoo had no intention of leaving.

He didn’t know what Dorothy’s intentions were in saying those words.
The air grew heavy.

“Do you know that your words mean that you are trying to take the national seal of the Nuckelavee Kingdom from me?”

The Queen’s high-pitched voice rang out softly.
It sounded like the growl of a beast glaring at its captured prey.

“Take it? I meant to borrow it for a while. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Dorothy backed down again this time.
As much as Dorothy backed down, Ruelle also eased her displeasure.
Of course, she was firm in her opinion on the parts she would not concede.

“I forgive you. I don’t want to end our last day with a red face either.”
“It was just a light joke. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s good that you know. I want to cherish my friendship with you, so don’t say such things.”
“Yes~ I understand.”

Siwoo, who had been watching with anxiety, wondering if they might fight, was relieved.

After the meal.
Dorothy gathered the luggage she had brought and prepared to leave.

“Well, thank you for taking care of me during my stay. I’ll be going now.”

Ruelle had been briefly angry about Siwoo’s issue, but she had quickly recovered as usual.
Now, it seemed that her disappointment at Dorothy leaving earlier than expected was greater.

“Dorothy.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Ruelle strode over and hugged Dorothy tightly.
It was a gentle hug, like hugging a precious doll.

“When are you planning to come next?”
“I don’t know~ Maybe next vacation?”

Ruelle considered the possibility that Dorothy was secretly upset, even though she pretended to be fine.

“I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“Oh? About what?”
“About me not giving you Shin Siwoo.”

Dorothy smiled as she patted Ruelle’s head.

“It’s okay~ I knew it was an unreasonable request.”
“I cherish you too. When the trials are over and we can travel freely… let’s travel together, the three of us.”
“……”

After a brief silence, Dorothy replied with a smile.

“I hope that day comes soon too.”

3.
Dorothy left as suddenly as she had appeared, and Siwoo and Ruelle were left alone in the submarine again.

It was hard to call her a nuisance, but anyway, he hadn’t been able to do the trials because of Dorothy, so he planned to work harder to make up for the time he had rested.

“Siwoo.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t want to leave with Dorothy, did you?”
“Of course not.”

When she told them to get along, she was fine, but as soon as Dorothy set her sights on Siwoo, she seemed to have become anxious.
After reassuring the anxious Ruelle, they decided to start the trials right away.

It was because they were in a hurry to make up for the time they had lost…
But that was the wrong choice.

He realized too late that he shouldn’t have done that.
That he should have stayed with Ruelle a little longer.